A Mortal Work of Art

It seems that the BBC goes through phases of being really interested in tattooing- they’ll go ages without mentioning tattooing at all, and then out of nowhere it’s all over their radio stations and TV channels. It’s always quite pleasant, though, so we can’t really complain. This week, BBC Radio 4 played host to a one-off show called A Mortal Work of Art, where DJ Mary Anne Hobbs explored the relationship between tattooing and fine art.

During the show, Mary Anne speaks to Spider Webb and Alex Binnie, among other tattooers. Spider spoke about the tattooing ban in New York, and how lifting this ban helped to show how fine art and tattooing can live together, and his conceptual art that involves tattooing, called X 1,000. Alex talks about his shop, Into You, and the punk rock days of tattooing.

Matt Lodder also makes an appearance, where he talks about Alex’s shop and introduces listeners to the shop. Matt is becoming the BBC’s go-to-guy when it comes to tattooing; you can pretty much guarantee his appearance in anything the BBC wants to make around it. He also shows off some of his research from his book, which will be a history of professional tattooing in England.

Mary Anne also speaks to Sandra Ann Vita Minchin, who is currently in the process of getting a 17th Century Dutch masterpiece tattooed on her back, and writer Shelly Jackson, who launched the Skin Project. Sandra talks about how she wants to grow her own skin from her DNA, to get a smaller version of the backpiece, where Shelly wrote a book completely out of tattoos.

Overall, it’s a great way to waste half an hour. You can check it out by clicking below on the picture: